


Guiltless

by CeriseRae



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, New Friends, class switch, ml salt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 11:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20545310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeriseRae/pseuds/CeriseRae
Summary: Marinette can't do it anymore. She thought she could ignore Lila's lies but she's got everyone in their class wrapped around her finger, including their teacher. When Ms. Bustier tries to tell Marinette to take the high road once more, her mother decides to have Marinette moved to a different class.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Miraculous Ladybug or any of its characters. This is just for fun.  
This was originally uploaded on my Tumblr but I decided to add it here too!  
This chapter is super short, but the others are longer.

“Marinette we already talked about this, I’m counting on you to set a good example for the other students. Getting into conflicts with your peers isn’t the way to do that.” Miss Bustier leaned against her desk, staring at the girl in the front row.

It was the end of the day, after another confrontation where Lila was at it again, this time lying about designing for some famous person or other and how her designs were much better than Marinette’s. And then Alya had the gall to tell Marinette that if she could just get over her jealousy, she could probably learn a thing or two from Lila. Before Marinette could utter a syllable Miss Bustier came around the corner, took one look at the situation, and decided to pull Marinette alone back into the classroom.

“If we wish to change the world, we must all learn to love each other”, Miss Bustier recited her go to quote. Marinette sat in silence, eye twitching, trying to control her breathing. There was no point in saying anything anyway, because no matter what, Marinette would always be in the wrong.

Miss Bustier continued on, “I know Lila can be difficult to get along with, and I know her stories are a little… far fetched—“ Marinette snapped to attention at that “—…but the best thing to do is show her kindness. She will eventually see that her lies are wrong.”

Marinette had no idea that Bustier knew Lila was lying, it was highly likely that she knew the confrontations were started by Lila and yet did nothing to stop her. Just like with Chloe. Just like with any fight, it was always Marinette who needed to change, to show kindness where it wasn’t deserved, to be silent and happy and numb. And the fact that Bustier knew about how Lila truly was, and did nothing, that was the final straw for Marinette. It was like a switch flipped or a fuse blew in her brain, and suddenly she wasn’t in her body, she was above it in a dense fog and she couldn’t feel anything.

She stood, rather abruptly, in the middle of Miss Bustier’s lecture, and walked out of the classroom. She could hear Bustier calling for her but she ignored her. She moved in a daze until she was suddenly home, standing in the middle of the bakery and her mother was trying to talk to her.

“Marinette? Honey, are you okay? What happene—“ Sabine stopped, looking more closely at her face.

Sabine looked back at Tom, peeking out from the kitchen, “I’m taking her upstairs, watch the front please”. Turning back to her daughter, she decided a nice cup of Tai Ju Hua Cha was in order. Leaving the front to Tom, she ushered Marinette up to their kitchen and began fixing the tea.

Marinette sat on the couch looking around the room, knowing something was wrong, that she should be feeling something, anything and yet… nothing. Nothing but a fog she couldn’t get out of.

Her mom finished making the tea, poured each of them a mug, and turned to see Marinette’s eyes glazed over as she stared into space. She sat the cups down and kneeled in front of her.

“Mari, can you hear me?” Her breathing hitched slightly, the only indication that she was still in there, “deep breaths sweetheart. I need you to do something for me, look around the room. What are five things you see?” She watched Marinette’s glazed eyes look around the room slowly, when she had stopped Sabine continued. “Good, now, what are four things you can touch?”

Marinette’s hands fell to either side, touching the couch for a moment, before moving to her mother, gently patting her on the head. She shuffled her feet on the hardwood before taking one of the cups of tea that her mother held out.

“You’re doing great sweetie, how about three things you can hear?”

Marinette closed her eyes and listened, she could hear her heart beat, her mothers breathing, and the jingle of the bell in the bakery.

“Two things you can smell.”

The warm aroma of the tea in her cup, and fresh baked bread wafting from below.

“One thing you can taste.”

Marinette sipped her tea.

“Good, now keep doing that until you come back.”

Sabine sat with her until Marinette looked up from her cup, looking confused as to why she was home and how she got there.

“What happened? When did I come home?”

“A few hours ago, you had a pretty strong dissociative episode”, Sabine told her, gently wrapping her in a hug.

“Hours? but… I-I was just with Miss Bustier…” Marinette trailed off, thinking back to what had happened.

“Honey, what happened today? Why do you want to switch classes?”

So Marinette told her everything, from Lila’s lie and Alya’s comment, to Miss Bustier lecturing her despite knowing that Lila was at fault.

Sabine was far past angry by the time Marinette finished speaking. “If it weren’t so late I would call them up and give them a piece of my mind!”

Marinette sighed and flopped back on the couch, “it’s not like it would fix anything, and it wouldn’t make me feel any better. I’d rather just… leave her class and move on with my life.” Marinette stood up and turned to her mother, “thanks for helping me through all that, I’m not hungry, I’m just gonna go to bed, night”.

Sabine watched Marinette until the trapdoor closed then went back down to help close up. ‘It may not make her feel better, but it’ll sure make me feel better.’

The next morning, Sabine left early, right when the school was opening and made her way to the principal’s office. Aurore was early that day, standing just inside the school and if she had to describe the small Asian women who came through the doors it would be “category 5 hurricane”.


	2. Chapter 2

Sabine stormed up to the principal’s office and threw open the door. Mr. Damocles jumped at the sudden intrusion.

“Hello Mr. Damocles, I’d like to have a word with you and Miss Bustier, now.”

“I-I’m sorry Mrs. Cheng, but I don’t have a meeting with you scheduled for this morning.”

She narrowed her eyes and the look she leveled at him had him tripping over his words.

“But… my schedule appears to be open this morning so a meeting will be no problem!” He quickly picked up his phone and dialed the teachers lounge, after a moment he turned back to Sabine, “But it seems that Miss Bustier is not here yet.”

“That’s fine, I’ll wait”, Sabine came in and sat down, the tension making Mr. Damocles fidget.

He decided to send Miss Bustier a message so she would come straight to his office. The faster she got there, the faster the meeting would be over and the very intimidating woman in front of him would leave.

After fifteen minutes of excruciatingly tense silence, Miss Bustier finally arrived. She paused at the door when she saw who was sitting inside. “Oh, Mrs. Cheng, what can I do for you this morning? Where’s Marinette?”

“Marinette won’t be in today”, her cutting tone took the teacher by surprise.

“O-Okay, is that… all you needed?”

“Not quite”, Sabine turned slightly, the smile she flashed Miss Bustier was… off, it left the teacher on edge. “Please, come sit. I’d like to discuss your treatment of my daughter.”

Her shock left her frozen by the door, “my ‘treatment?’, I don’t understand”.

The smile fell from Sabine’s face, “sit”.

The teacher ducked her head and moved quickly to the chair opposite the angry mother.

Not far from the school, in a lair that’s just a bit too extra

“Ah, what could be more powerful than a mother trying to protect her daughter? Go my little akuma and evilize her!”

“What do you mean my “treatment of your daughter”? I treat her the same as everyone else.” Caline finally found her voice and after processing what Sabine had said, how she said it, she was more than a little defensive.

“Oh, so did you give Lila a lecture about starting fights after Marinette left?”

“What? No.”

“Why not? A fight usually takes two participants, and if you lecture one and not the other it won’t help anything, in fact it will most likely make things worse.”

“I have already talked to Marinette about being the bigger person and setting an example for her peers. She could have turned and left but she chose to be apart of the fight yesterday, I was trying to remind her of our earlier discussion when she so rudely left, she’s lucky I don’t give her detention for how she acted.”

That was the wrong thing to say because Sabien went eerily calm, “You mean to tell me, that this is the second time you’ve blamed Marinette for a fight she didn’t start?”

Mrs. Bustier didn’t seem like she wanted to talk about it, but the looks on both Mr. Damocles and Sabine’s faces told her she had no choice.

“On my birthday a few months ago, Marinette brought me a gift and Chloe scribbled on it with permanent marker, Marinette got mad but it was completely out of line, and I pulled her into the hall to explain that as class representative she needs to set an example.”

“You did what?” Mr. Damocles gave her an incredulous look.

“How dare you treat Marinette’s gift, that she worked weeks on, like it was nothing! She wouldn’t talk to us the entire night! Now it makes sense why.” Sabine was absolutely livid, “It doesn’t matter if she’s the class representative, something she created was destroyed and you let Chloe get away with it, that is unacceptable. And it makes my decision that much easier.”

The little black butterfly slipped under the partially open window, into the office and started fluttering towards Sabine.

“Miss Bustier saw it first, “AKUMA!”, she screamed and jumped out of her chair.

It moved closer to Sabine but before it could land on anything to akumatize, Sabine had snached it out of the air.

Hawkmoth gasped at the overwhelming amount of emotion coming from the woman, it was too much for even him to control.

Sabine opened her hand, “leave. me. alone.” Before their eyes the akuma flashed white and flew away. Mr. Damocles and Ms. Bustier stared, mouths agape, as the butterfly flew back out from where it came.

Turning back to the principal she gave him her ultimatum, “Either, you transfer Marinette to another class, and she has no contact with Bustier; or, we will transfer her to another school.”

Mr. Damocles knew that Marinette was one of their top students and it would not look good on the school, he also knew that Sabine was completely in the right and they would have to have some sort of training because the more he thought about it, the more he noticed a pattern of Bustier’s students being sent to his office more often than from any other class. And after seeing Sabine what he can only assume scare Hawkmoth He started shuffling through his papers to look at the other classes.

“I agree that Marinette should be moved. It looks like the only class that has an opening is Ms Mendeleiev’s class, will that work?”

Sabine had heard Marinette complain about the teachers’ science homework but never about how she treated her students. “Yes, I think that will work, for now at least.”

After making sure everything that needed to be changed was, Sabine left. She had convinced Tom to take the day off, they were just going to have a day with their daughter. She walked out of the school as more students came in, and she pretended not to hear when Alya called after her.


	3. Chapter 3

“You are very lucky that we are understaffed right now Caline. Otherwise I would have no choice but to put you on leave. Fortunately for you, we can’t afford to lose any teachers right now.” Mr. Damocles hardly waited for the door to close after Sabine before he started in on Ms. Bustier.

“Why is this such a big deal? I didn’t do anything wrong.” Ms. Bustier stated, “Marinette wasn’t in trouble, I simply explained why we need to be kind to each other and–” 

“That’s not the issue, the issue is that you didn’t punish the ones responsible. You let them get away with it, which only encourages negative behaviors.”

Ms. Bustier sat in stubborn silence. To Mr. Damocles she looked more like a student than a teacher.

He sighed, “I’m going to look into some trainings, and they will be mandatory for the entire staff”.

Caline huffed then stood abruptly, “Fine, it’s almost time for class to start”.

Mr. Damocles waved her away and got busy searching for suitable trainings.

The class bustled with energy, Lila was spinning more tales, and everyone was enthralled with her. No one noticed that a certain dark haired class rep was missing.

“Alright children, please take your seats!” Ms Bustier exclaimed, something off in her tone. Only a few students seemed to catch it but shrugged it off as they made their way to their seats. 

Once everyone was quiet Ms Bustier started, “First order of business, we will be voting for a new class representative”.

The class immediately began talking amongst themselves; finally realizing the Marinette wasn’t there. Alya pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Marinette, she looked around to see Rose and Adrien doing the same. 

“Isn’t Marinette class rep? Why do we need a new one?” Lila asked in a sickly sweet voice. 

“Miss Dupain-Cheng has changed classes, and she can’t be class rep of a class she’s not in.”

There was a collective gasp from the class and then almost everyone was on their phones, trying to get ahold of Marinette.

Lila looked around at the class before a new plan popped into her head. “Oh this is all my fault isn’t it!” She cried, tears already sliding down her cheeks. “I don’t know why she hated me so much but that must be why she changed class. It would have been better if I hadn’t come here!” She sniffled.

Aside from the one scoff and agreement from Chloe, the rest of the class jumped to Lila’s defense. 

“That’s not true!”

“If that’s why she switched good riddance!”

“Of course you should be here!”

Adrien watched as everyone practically lost their minds, he couldn’t believe how selfish one person could be!

It took awhile but eventually Ms Bustier was able to get the class calm.

Marinette groaned and reached for her buzzing phone, looking at the screen she had over 30 unread messages, but what really caught her eye was the time. It read 10:32, she was so late! Adrenaline coursed through her as she jumped up, “Tikki! Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Tikki, having heard Marinette’s parents talking about taking a vacation day, tried to explain that to her chosen. But Mari’s panic was too loud to hear her Kwami. Forgetting to change out of her pajama pants Mari was out of her room and halfway down the stairs before she realized that her parents had been sitting in the living room, playing Ultimate Mecha Strike III. 

“Wait… why are they upstairs? Who’s running the bakery?”

“That’s what I was trying to tell you Marinette, they told the school you wouldn’t be there today, and they took a vacation day!” Tikki disappeared into Marinette’s hair when they heard the door open above them.

Sabine came out to the hall and peaked down to where Marinette stood, “honey, we are all taking a vacation day, come back up. I made Xiǎomǐ zhōu!”

Marinette made her way back upstairs, as the adrenaline rush wore off, she realized just how tired she still was. 

“I talked to the school this morning”, Sabine mentioned as she got Marinette some food. “You’ll be in Ms. Mendeleiev’s class starting tomorrow.”

Marinette sat, stunned, “what did you say? You didn’t go off on them… did you?” She knew how intimidating the petite woman could be.

“I would never tell off your teacher and principal Xiǎo huā–” Marinette did not believe her for a moment, “–I told them that we would like to move you to a different class.”

“Mhmmm, sure” Marinette shook her head as she started to eat. She remembered all the messages she had and pulled out her phone. Almost everyone from her class had sent at least one message, they started off nice but concerned 

“Where are you?” 

“Are you okay?”

“You’re not sick, are you?”

But then the tone changed

“You’re switching classes??????”

“What happened???” 

“How could you be so selfish?”

“I didn’t think you were that petty”

“You are such a wolf in sheep’s clothing”

Alya’s last text really hit hard though, “I can’t believe you switched classes just because you’re mad at what Lila said yesterday, or was it because you’re jealous of how close she is with Adrien? Either way your attitude recently has been horrible and this takes the cake. If you’re gonna act like this I don’t want to be around you anymore.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick note, this chapter is higher in adrientte salt

“Marinette? What can I do for you today?” Master Fu was surprised to the young hero during a school day, he had not heard of any akuma attacks.

“I need some advice master. If you have the time.” Marinette had told her parents she wanted to take a nap and slipped away to see him.

“Of course I have time, come sit.” He turned to pour two cups of tea while Marinette sat and explained everything, including the texts she’d been receiving all day.

“So… was this the right thing, Switching classes? Or am I being overdramatic?”

Fu sighs, setting his cup down, “Marinette, I chose you to be the ladybug because you are brave and selfless. Those are both wonderful traits to have but in excess they are some of the worst. Too much bravery becomes recklessness and leads one into dangerous situations, and being too selfless can lead to people taking advantage of your kind nature. I think what you did is best. You can only give so much before you start to lose yourself.” He smiled gently, “It’s okay to tell people ‘no’, even if it is a friend”.

Marinette nodded, staring down into her cup, her phone had buzzed a few more times while they had been talking but they both ignored it. She didn’t want to read anymore of her “friends’” harsh words.

Fu continued, voice soft, “we can’t blame someone for how they were raised, it is not their fault who their parents are. But, you don’t have to entertain anyone who treats you poorly and you don’t have to forgive them.”

Marinette’s thoughts went to Chloe, who had been horrible to her since they were little, but in all that time she couldn’t remember ever meeting her mother until recently. Master Fu’s words made sense, if that was Chloe’s role model growing up, no wonder she acted like she did. “Thank you for your insight master”, she looked at the clock, she had been there a couple hours and her parents would probably be checking on her soon, “I should go”.

Marinette stared at her reflection, debating if she could get away with feigning sickness. She sighed, probably not.

“Don’t worry Marinette, I’ll be there with you!” Tikki flew up so she was eye level with her chosen, seeing the worried look on her face. “Ms Menedeliev’s class can’t be that bad right?”

Marinette thought for a moment, sure Mendeleiev was strict and intimidating at times, but she respected her students and expected the same from them. Even during the weather girl contest Aurore and Mireille were amicable to each other and it didn’t affect their schoolwork. And Marinette had been in the courtyard when Aurore apologized to Mireille for the Stormy Weather thing. From what she could remember, only a couple of students from that class had been akumatized and those had all been outside of class do to personal reasons. This would definitely be a less stressful environment.

““No, I don’t think so, and I know most of the students from previous years so it won’t be like moving to a brand new school. But it will be difficult, I mean, I’ve grown so much closer to everyone in Bustier’s class this year… well, mostly”

“You deserve people who like you for you and not for what you can give them. Even if that means being in Ms Mendeleiev’s class”

Marinette smiled at her kwami, tears trying to form, “thanks Tikki, I don’t know what I would do without you”. Marinette looked up, blinking rapidly to dispel the tears and took a deep, calming breath. “Okay, I think, if I leave in ten minutes and walk slowly it’ll be close enough to class time that everyone should be in the classroom and I won’t see any of them”.

Alya’s was not the last text that came the day prior, and Marinette got to a point where she turned her phone to silent and just ignored them. She had thought about just blocking all of them but… she couldn’t bring herself to do so just yet.

She grabbed breakfast and headed down to the bakery. “Morning!” she said, trying to be cheerful. Her mom saw through the act immediately, “Xiǎo huā, you are strong and you will get through this. A journey of a thousand miles–”

“‘–Begins with a single step, I know mama’”, she smiled at her mother for a moment before turning and heading out to school.

She checked the time once more before slowly climbing the stairs to the front door. They should all be in class, listening to another of Lila’s tales no doubt. Reaching the top, she peeked around the door and, not seeing anyone, started to make a beeline for the locker room. She was busy pulling her books out of her bag to save some time and didn;t notice when someone stepped out in front of her. Startled, she fell back, dropping her books. “Oh! I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was go–” She looked up and froze. Why is Adrien out here? Why isn’t he in the classroom?

Before she could say anything else, he spoke, “is it true that you’re switching classes?”

She looked at him for a moment longer before unfreezing and sighing, “yes, I’m in Ms. Mendeleiev’s class now.” She grabbed her books and stood back up.

He sighed, shaking his head sadly, “Why would you do this? Everyone was so upset yesterday., I’m surprised no one got akumatized because you did this.”

It was the weirdest thing, as he spoke, implying it would have been her fault if someone were akumatized, the image she had of him in her mind started to crack. Tiny cracks, around the edges, but cracks nonetheless. “Are you sure people weren’t upset because Lila somehow spun this to make it about me hating her?” Marinette said rather stiffly.

“It doesn’t matter why they were upset, someone could have been akumatized!”

‘Funny, it mattered when the blame was on me’ Marinette thought in passing as Adrien continued.

The cracks started growing, moving inwards, small cracks climbing over his face.

“And you didn’t answer my question, why did you switch classes? I thought we were in this together…” he looked at her with sadness and a hint of disappointment.

She raised an eyebrow, “I switched classes because I was tired of listening to Lila lie to my friends and them ignore me when I tried to make them see reason. Because I’m tired of being told that I need to be better when I wasn’t the one in the wrong. I switched classes—”, she turned away from him, “— because you made it sound like you would be there for me, but all you’ve done is excuse her actions, stood up for her, and done nothing to protect your supposed friends from her manipulations.”

“This isn’t gonna stop her from talking about you, if anything she’ll just talk more.”

“Let her, if she wants to talk about me she can do it behind my back. Because I’m done listening.” Marinette took a steadying breath, “I have to get to class”.

“Marine—“

“Adieu Adrien”, Marinette started to walk away but Adrien wasn’t done.

“You know, maybe you aren’t the person I thought you were, maybe I was wrong in calling you our everyday ladybug”

She stopped walking, His smiling face shattered, crumbling into millions of tiny pieces.

She turned to look back at him, he seemed unsure of himself when he saw the tears welling up in her eyes. Her voice was strong though, and it cut like a knife. “And I was wrong in my first and second impressions of you, you’re not like Chloé, and you just pretend to be nice to placate people. No, you’re just like Lila. You say and do the things you think other people will like but in the end you’re just fake.”

He stood with his mouth open, staring at her as she turned a raced towards her new classroom.

She was surprised she still made it to class, not only before the bell but before Ms. Mendeleiev even arrived. At least she had that going for her. Some students looked up with curious gazes, others paid attention to the newcomer.

“Hello newbie”, a playful voice called out.

Turning, Marinette saw Aurore sitting alone in a middle bench, a sly smirk on her face as she waved. Smiling, she gave a small wave and walked over to her.

“You know when Ms. Mendeleiev first said I was getting a new bench mate I was worried because Simone was pretty much perfect when it comes to bench mates. But when I found out it was you, I knew I wouldn’t have to worry.” She smiled brightly, “do you have a preference on side?”

Marinette shook her head, “Nope!”

“Good, because I do”, Aurore slid over and Marinette slipped into her new seat, giving Aurore a questioning glance, “how else am I going to torture Brielle?”

The girl sitting in front of Aurore turned with playfully exasperated look. She had dark magenta hair, a deep skin tone, and light hazel eyes. She was new this year, Marinette had seen the girl in passing but hadn’t said more than three sentences to her.

“Have you two actually met? I feel like it’s been ages since we last talked Mari. Well anyway, this is Brielle, Brielle this is Marinette.”

Brielle held out her hand, “it’s nice to officially meet you Marinette!”

“You too!”

Ms. Mendeleiev came in then, a quick welcome to Marinette, then straight into lecture. Aurore passed her a note while Mendeleiev wrote on the board, ‘wanna have lunch with Bri and I?’

Marinette have a quick, short nod, before turning back to the lesson. ‘This was definitely a good change’

Marinette walked into the bakery after school and sighed. Despite all of her new classmates welcoming her when they got the chance and being super kind she was glad the day was over. Other than the morning confrontation with Adrien, she had been successful in staying away from her old classmates. But it had been exhausting keeping her guard up all day, and she still had patrol that night…

“How was your day Xiǎo huā?” Sabine asked from behind the counter.

“It was pretty good”, she decided not to mention the confrontation, she didn’t want to think about it. “I’m pretty tired, I think I’m gonna take a nap before I do some homework.”

Her mom nodded as a customer came up to pay. Marinette made it up to her room and flopped onto her chaise, and absently looked around her room. She hadn’t realized until that moment just how many pictures she had of Adrien. Sitting up, she looked at the collage for moment before going over and pulling a picture from the wall. Then another, and another, until all of the pictures of Adrien were sitting in a messy pile on her desk. She reached up and pulled her schedule down, it wasn’t just adriens schedule but she had a feeling that she was uninvited from most of the outings she had scheduled so it wasn’t a very useful calendar anymore. Luckily she had an extra blank one she could start filling out with her commissions.

She looked at the pile of images and the now crumpled calendar before turning to Tikki.

“If I ever do something like this—“ she motioned to the pile, “—again? Please slap some sense into me.”

“Oh Marinette, crush’s are normal.”

“Yeah, but I think I took it a little too far this time.”

She grabbed the pile, put it into a trash bag and took it, along with the rest of the trash out back to their dumpster.


	5. Chapter 5

'And I was wrong in my first and second impressions of you, you’re not like Chloé, and you just pretend to be nice to placate people. No, you’re just like Lila. You say and do the things you think other people will like but in the end you’re just fake.'

Adrien stood, frozen, for what felt like an eternity but couldn’t have been more than a few minutes as Marinette’s words replayed in his head.

“Hey dude”, Nino came down the stairs, heading towards his best friend. “You okay? It’s almost time for class.”

Snapping out of his trance, Adrien turned, “yeah I’m fine, let’s go”, he walked past Nino, Marinette’s words still lingering in his mind. They walked into the classroom in time to hear Lila trying to refuse the class rep role.

“I would love to represent the class, I was class representative at my last school after all. But with how hectic my and my mom’s schedules are it wouldn’t be fair to all of you if I had to be gone for weeks or even months.”

Alya put her arm around the Italian girl, “don’t worry, I’ll help you, I used to help…” she paused, making a face, “…before. It’s not like the job was that hard, I can take care of minor things when you’re gone and if anything big happens, we can video chat with you about it.”

Lila tried not to grimace as the whole class rallied behind Alya to make Lila the new representative. She really didn’t want to have to deal with everyone’s problems, that seemed like more work than it was worth. But they weren’t letting it go, Alya was pretty gullible and naive, she could probably pawn all the work off on her.

“Well alright, if you insist! Thank you all for this wonderful opportunity! I will do my best to represent this class properly.” Her voice was almost too sweet.

Adrien had stayed rooted in the doorway, staring at the scene before him. As soon as he had seen Lila, Marinette’s words came back like a tidal wave crashing into him. Yeah, Lila fibs a bit but Marinette was the one out of line here. She was the one causing unnecessary drama with the class. 

Lila noticed the boy standing in the doorway and her eyes lit up. “Adrien! Did you hear the news? I just became class rep, isn’t that amazing? Everyone here is just so sweet!”

Adrien swallowed thickly, he couldn’t be the only one who thought her overly sweet tone sounded fake right? You’re just fake. 

Before he could respond Ms. Bustier came in, “alright class settle down, it’s time to choose a new class rep—“ 

“—We already voted Miss, everyone voted for Lila.”

Ms. Bustier pauses for a moment before smiling at them, “perfect! I’ll go over your duties at the end of class then Lila.”

“Great!” A bright smile graced her lips but on the inside she was scowling.

Ms. Bustier started her lecture and the class settled down. 

No one seemed to notice or care that a certain blonde was now sitting in the back, save for the ginger boy sitting next to her.

The rest of the day was a blur, Adrien just going through the motions until that night when he would get to see his lady during patrol.

“Good evening m’lady, you are looking as purr-fect as ever!” Chat sauntered over the roof to where Ladybug perched, watching the city.

“Evening Chat”, Ladybug said absently. 

“Something the matter bugaboo?”

“Mmm… just school drama, you know how it is.”

“Tell me about it, this girl I thought was my friend just completely changed practically overnight.”

“Mmmm”

“She was so nice when we first met, even after a misunderstanding. But ever since this new girl showed up she’s just been impossible. She even changed classes just because she was mad at this other girl, which caused the new girl to almost be akumatized and just angered the whole class!”

It was a really good thing that Ladybug wasn’t actually listening to what Chat was saying at that moment. She was busy watching a group of teens laughing and walking down the street, there was one girl in the group who just seemed… off. She trailed behind the group a few paces and wouldn’t look up. Marinette decided to keep an eye on her during their patrol.

“Let’s go Chat, I want to get done with patrol and then go to bed”, she stopped Chat mid sentence, standing and moving to follow the group. “I’ll take the north, you take the south?”

“Works for me m’lady!” Chat called, recovering quickly from ladybug’s abrupt departure. 

It wasn’t long before Ladybug heard what sounded like a building collapse. Great, just what I needed tonight. 

“I’ve had it with you using me for the butt of your jokes! You will all pay!”

Ladybug rounded a corner just in time to see the akuma blast something at a group of teens. She was able to use her yo-yo and yanked them out of the way just before the blast could hit them.upon closer inspection she realized it was the group from earlier. She had followed them for a few minutes but nothing seemed too terrible and the group had even slowed to wait for the girl to catch up. Marinette had thought everything would be fine. But as usual, she was wrong.

“Your friend I’m assuming?” Ladybug asked as she pulled the group to safety.

One of the boys rolled his eyes, “yeah, we were joking around and apparently she doesn’t know how to do that.”

The heroine stopped once she thought they were far enough away and turned back to the group, “just because you think you were joking doesn’t make it funny or right. If the person you’re joking with doesn’t find what you say funny it’s not much of a joke, is it?”

The group paused for a moment, mulling over Ladybug’s words. One by one they all looked at each other then back at Ladybug each wearing a guilty look. 

“I never really thought about it that way”, one of the girls said quietly.

They all mumbled out apologies to Ladybug. “I’m not the one you should apologize too. But right now you all need to stay hidden, I’ll go take care of your friend.” She swung away before they could say anything else.

She swung back up to wear the akumatized girl was wreaking havoc just as Chat got there.

“I can’t believe this!”

“What that there’s an akuma?”

“No, that girl I was telling you about earlier, wasn’t home. I wanted to Chat with her about what all happened today but now I can’t.”

Ladybug dodged an attack, “really Chat? That’s your priority right now?”

“But where would she have gone? It’s almost midnight on a school night.”

“Chat, I have bigger problems to deal with right now and they don’t include your girl troubles.”

“I didn’t realize I’m just a problem to you, maybe I should just go.”

“What? There’s an akuma!”

“Yeah, and you always seem to do just fine when I’m not here. I’m gonna try and find her.”

With that he turned and jumped away.

“Chat! CHAT!” Ladybug called after him but he didn’t look back. She continued dancing around attacks and hoped an idea would come to her soon.

Below, she caught sight of a news van pulling up. Awesome, just what I need. More civilians to protect right now.

Master Fu and Wayzz could hear the destruction that was happening nor far from them and Fu decided to check the news to see how bad the attack was. It looked like the reporter had just gotten to the scene and was trying to get a grasp on the situation.

“—coming to you live. As you can see behind me, ladybug is fighting the akuma, but we’re left wondering, where is Chat Noir?”

Fu paused for a moment, full attention on the screen.

“This bystander has been watching since the fight started. Tell me sir, what did you see?”

“Ladybug and Chat Noir we’re both here earlier, but it looked like maybe they had a fight and then Chat ran off. I heard Ladybug calling after him but he still hasn’t come back.”

“That isn’t good”, Wayzz commented

“No it is not.”

Fu turned and opened the miracle box, he thought for a moment. After what happened with her class, specifically with Alya, he didn’t think it would be wise to send Rena. He looked back at the news, Carapace could be good in helping to cover for her… but the akuma moved so quickly. They almost needed someone who could immobilize the akuma… he looked back at the box with reluctance. Slowly, he reached in and pulled out the bee miraculous. 

“Are you sure master?”

“Not really, but considering the circumstances I don’t think it would be wise to send the other two, and we don’t have time to find a new holder. Marinette has said that Chloe is good at being a hero so I don’t think that would be much of a problem. Let’s just hope that I’m not wrong.”

Chloe had heard the explosions and immediately went back inside, after their last encounter she was positive that she wouldn’t be getting her miraculous back. She turned on some music and tried to work on her homework.

“Hello Chloe”

She screamed, and spun around to see an old man, standing by the balcony door. “Wh- Who are you? How did you get in here?”

“I am a friend of ladybug’s, she needs your help.” He held out a small box.

She looked at it for a moment, before squinting at him, “how do I know you’re not working for Hawk Moth and this is just a ruse?”

“He chuckled before opening the box, a brilliant yellow light shone for a moment before fading and leaving Pollen floating above the box. 

“Good evening, my queen”, the small creature said with a flourish.

“Pollen!” Chloe looked back to the man, “Are you sure you want me to help… especially after what happened last time?”

“Chloe not only are you the best option, you are our only option right now, Ladybug needs you.”

Chloe reached out tentatively and took the box, pulling out the comb and placing it in her hair. She took a deep breath, “Pollen! Transformez-moi!”

Ladybug had been doing a good job of dancing around the blasts while keeping them away from civilians but she was getting tired. She had been hoping that Chat would come back but so far he was nowhere to be seen. If she could get away she would try to contact Master Fu, but the akuma was just too fast. 

“Lucky Charm!” She swung around the akuma and landed on a roof behind her to try and come up with a plan, but lost her footing on the gravel for a second. That was all the akuma needed, it blasted her back, then jumped on top of her. The force of being knocked over shot the lucky charm out of her hand and across the roof. Ladybug struggled but, with the akuma sitting on top of her, it had an advantage over her. It started to reach for her earrings, but before it could even touch them, the akuma was ripped away.

Ladybug turned to see Queen Bee grappling with the akuma. She stared in astonishment for a moment before springing into action. She scanned the akuma, looking for the akumatized object. She spotted the girl’s arm, what looked to be a very intricate charm bracelet wrapped around her hand and up her arm. The hand that she was using to shoot her energy beams. 

Chloe got the upper hand and threw the girl, she landed on her back, stunned for a moment. “You okay Ladybug?”

“Yeah, did Chat get you? Where is he?” She asked, taking a moment to look for him.

“No, some old guy brought it to me, said he’s a friend of yours, he told me to give you the miraculous after we win.”

Ladybug looked down for a moment before shaking her head and looking back up at the blonde. “Okay, I think the akuma is in her bracelet.”

Queen Bee nodded and pulled out her top, “venom!” 

The two girls charged at the akuma who was just getting back up. Dazed, she was no match for the two heroes and Queen Bee immobilized her while Ladybug grabbed the bracelet.

After restoring everything, the two heroes helped the girl reunite with her friends. They apologized to her and once it seemed like everything was fine, Ladybug and Queen Bee left.

They landed on Chloe’s balcony, “Thank you for your help tonight Bee, you saved my life. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Unless Chat had been here right? Or Carapace or Rena? I bet they were all busy and I was the only one left. Because you only choose me when there are no other options” She looked away, trying to hide the angry tears. She dropped the transformation and handed the miraculous back.

Ladybug sighed, “Chloe, you are a good hero, but… there’s more to it than just being good behind a mask. I need to see that you can be good outside of the mask too.”

“Ugh, you sound just like my therapist.”

Ladybug blinked, “…therapist?”

“Ugh yes, daddy’s been bribing me to go, and the lady is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!” 

Ladybug’s earrings beeped.

Chloe turned and sat on the ledge, “I guess this is goodbye then?”

Ladybug looked over at the stairwell, “hold on just a second!” Ladybug ran over and slipped inside.

Chloe sat, looking at the door in confusion. A couple minutes later Ladybug returned, her earrings no longer beeping. 

“There! I’ve got pretty much all the time in the world now.” She sat beside Chloe, who was looking at her with wide eyes, “now why is your therapist ‘utterly ridiculous?”

Chloe shook herself from her shock, “well for starters, she’s always so positive, no one should be that positive. About everything, all the time. You know? And at our last session she told me I should try being kind to those around me, like Sabrina. Maybe apologize for how I treat her.” She took a shaky breath, “So I tried that this morning but Sabrina told me that it didn’t matter how many times I said sorry or what I tried to bribe her with, she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore. She said that Lila offered to be her friend and that she was a good– a real friend.” 

She got quieter as she said all this and Marinette couldn’t help but feel sorry for the girl.

“I guess Marinette had the right idea.”

Ladybug froze, “who?”

“This girl in my class… well she was in my class, she switched classes a couple days ago, because Lila was manipulating everyone else and turning them against her. It actually made me feel bad for tormenting her all those years.”

Marinette decided to fish a little, “why did you torment her?”

Chloe thought for a few moments, “I don’t really know… I guess, I was jealous? She has a wonderful life, she’s never had to work hard to make friends, her parents are amazing and love her. They don’t forget her name or try to buy her love.” 

Chloe looked over at Ladybug, “are you okay? You have a weird look on your face.”

Marinette snapped out of her stupor and looked at Chloe, “I’m fine, I was just… thinking about everything you said.”

They talked for another hour before Chloe decided she was talked out, “thank you for staying and talking to me Ladybug, you have no idea what this means to me.”

Ladybug smiled at her, a plan forming in her mind, “no problem Chloe, I’ll see you around.”

She turned to leave but spun to look at Chloe once more, “Chloe I have a proposition for you.”

Chloe cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. 

“You do one nice thing tomorrow at school, and then tomorrow night, I’ll stop by here and you can tell me about it.”

Chloe mulled the request over for a moment, “you’d really do that?”

“Of course! The only thing that could keep me away would be an akuma attack and even then I’d still try to make it.”

Finally, Chloe nodded, “fine, deal.”

Ladybug smiled at her then swung away.


	6. Chapter 6

Marinette landed outside of Fu’s and dropped her transformation. It was late but she needed to bring back the Bee and she wanted to talk to him about Chat.

“Hello master, thank you for your help tonight.”

The elderly man smiled at her as she walked in. “I hope I made the right choice in partner tonight.”

“You did, I don’t think I could have focused had it been Rena”, she sighed.

Fu nodded, “you may need to find new people to help in a crisis…. What happened to Chat Noir tonight?”

“I have no idea! He was talking about how some girl made him mad… or maybe he made her mad? Either way he was venting about it before patrol. When we met back up to fight the akuma, he was more busy complaining about her than focusing on the fight. And then he decided to just leave, something about trying to find her and how I can fight the akumas just fine on my own.” She sighed in frustration.

Master Fu looked down for a moment, “I’m sorry Marinette.”

“What for? It’s not your fault Chat’s a spoiled brat”.

“But it is my fault you have to deal with this behavior, I saw so much potential for good that I overlooked his flaws. I had hoped that he would grow out of it, that the freedom would mature him, but it didn’t. I think I’m going to start looking for a new Chat Noir.”

Marinette gasped, she knew he had his flaws but… “master, I know he can be a handful but he is a good partner.”

“Marinette, he has had so many chances to prove himself to me. I just… I just wish I hadn’t ignored his negative behaviors for so long. At this point, I don’t know that even my council would be enough to help him.”

Marinette looked down, she knew he was probably right, but she still hated to admit it. But what if…

“What if he goes on a temporary hiatus? We can have a temporary Chat and you can council him for a while to see if it helps, if it does then he can come back and if it doesn’t… at least we tried.”

Fu smiled at her, just like her to think of others before herself. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt, but temporary or not, I will still need to find a new black cat holder. I want to find someone you can trust to have your back, so it may take a few weeks. Until I find someone else, and you find more allies,do you feel comfortable having Queen Bee on standby?”

Marinette nodded, “she was a great help tonight, and I’m trying to help her be better.”

“That’s wonderful, I think it would be best if you held onto the Bee for now in case something comes up.”

Marinette nodded once more, a few moments later and she was headed home for some well deserved shuteye.

Adrien had watched the Bakery like a hawk for two hours and there was still no sign of her. Maybe I missed her and she’s already in bed? He shook his head, in his quick scan through her window he hadn’t seen her.

What if she’s hurt? Or maybe she got kidnapped?

That’s silly! Who would want to take her? And with how clumsy she is, it’d be more shocking that she didn’t hurt herself.

Maybe she’s staying at a friend’s, or fell asleep on the couch?

He tried to rationalize where his ex-classmate could be. But after almost two and a half hours, he was tired and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed. He decided to let it go for now, and he’d check for her before class in the morning.

He landed in his room and detransformed, Plagg glowered at his chosen, “what was that?”

“What was what?” Adrien asked in a tired voice as he got ready for bed.

“How could you just leave like that? She’s your partner!”

“What do you care? I thought you liked being lazy and not fighting. Besides, I wanted to talk to Marinette about what happened this morning and it’s not like Ladybug couldn’t handle the situation on her own. Like she always does.” He muttered the last sentence.

Plagg looked at his chosen, eye twitching. “We are supposed to be there to help Ladybug, it doesn’t matter if you think she can handle it on her own or not. Because partner’s are there for each other.

Adrien sighed, “Plagg I’m tired, we can talk about this tomorrow.” He crawled into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

Plagg, however, had other plans. After he was sure Adrien wouldn’t wake up looking for him, he headed to Master Fu’s. 

“Master, I need to talk to you. It’s about my chosen.”

“I know how he behaved tonight, I have already talked to Ladybug about it. I want to take him out for a while and council him, if he can grow and work through his flaws, I’ll let him become Chat Noir again.

Plagg nodded, looking down. It was a better outcome than he expected. “So… what will happen with me?”

“Ladybug and I will be keeping an eye out for an appropriate, temporary chosen for you. Ladybug wants to give him another chance, while we look for a replacement. So for now you will stay with him.”

“Yes master.” 

Despite her late night Marinette woke up early enough to grab some breakfast and get to school a few minutes early. Which was nerve-racking. She slowed as she got to the steps, she was early enough that some of her old classmates may still be lingering downstairs. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and climbed the stairs. 

Aurore and Brielle stood by the door, talking. When they turned and saw her they waved her over. She made it to the top and sighed in relief, joining them, she smiled.

“Morning!”

“Good morning!” Aurore’s sunny smile temporarily made Marinette forget her worries. “Did you see the news last night? Ladybug and Queen Bee were amazing! It seemed like Chloe was actually trying. But I wonder where Chat was?”

Marinette smiled at the two girls but paused when she looked at Brielle, who gave her a tight smile, obviously stressed about something. 

Marinette looked at the girl with concern, “What’s wrong Brielle?” 

She sighed, “Simone was our class rep before she moved, and I was the second in command. After she left, rather than having another vote, everyone agreed that I should be promoted… but I have no idea what I’m doing! Simone liked doing the work and only had me help if she absolutely needed a second person.” The poor girl looked miserable. “And I’ve been trying to get Aurore to be my second in command, but she refuses.” She glared at the blonde girl who purposefully was staring up at the sky. 

Marinette chuckled, “I can help you, I was class rep before I switched classes.”

Brielle grabbed her hands, “really?” Marinette nodded, “thank you thank you thank you!” 

“No problem, are you ready for the meeting tonight?” 

The girl paused, “meeting?”

“Every other Friday the school faculty and class reps have a meeting to see how all the classes are doing and they bring up any issues or requests that the class has. That’s when we would bring up the idea of class trips too. I would ask everyone if there was any concerns they had or requests they wanted voiced and take those to the meeting with me.”

“I think Simone was more one on one, judging from her notebook. But I like the idea of talking to the class as a whole better.”

The three girls walked into the building, Marinette explaining everything that she did as class rep. They were blissfully unaware of the stares they were receiving. Aside from Adrien, no one actually saw Marinette the previous day. Mylène, Ivan, Rose, and Juleka stood near the stairs, gaping at the trio. Even with Bustier telling them that she had switched classes, they still hoped that it was a lie. That it had been some mistake. But seeing her walk alongside Aurore and Brielle into a different classroom, they knew it wasn’t a mistake. Quickly, they went up to their classroom and announced what they saw. 

Adrien sighed in relief, at least she’s not been kidnapped. The rest of the class was not as relieved to hear about their ex classmate. Complaining about her leaving them.

Lila quickly pulled the conversation back to her, until Ms. Bustier came in to start the days lessons. 

“Oh! Lila, are you ready for the meeting this afternoon? Since it’s your first one, you can stay quiet, get your bearings.” Ms. Bustier smiled at the girl. This is just what Lila needed to learn how to be a better person!

Lila frowned, sorrow written all over her face, “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you! I’m heading to Achu to work with Prince Ali on ways to help homeless children. I have to leave as soon as class is over to catch my flight.”

Ms. Bustier paused for a moment, “Oh! Okay then.”

Alya spoke up, “I can go this time!” She turned to Lila, “I’ll take notes so you know what’s going on!”

Lila smiled at the reporter, “you’re a lifesaver! I could never have taken on this role without you!” 

They hugged and Ms. Bustier started class.

When Ms. Mendeleiev walked into the classroom, Brielle took a deep breath, and went to talk to her. “Ms. Mendeleiev, since the class rep meeting is this afternoon, do you think I could ask if anyone in our class has anything they’d like me to bring up?”

Mendeleiev gave the girl a small smile, “that sounds like a wonderful idea. I see you have Simone’s notebook.” 

Brielle nodded, “she gave it to me before she left, I’ve been reading through it and want to see if there’s anything the class as a whole wants or needs.”

The young girl turned to the class, Aurore smiled at her and Marinette gave her a thumbs up in encouragement. I can do this.

“There’s this cute little cafe down the road that has amazing croque monsieur!” Aurore gushed as they left the classroom at noon.

“Sounds good to me!” Brielle finished packing her bag, making sure to grab the class rep notebook. 

“I agree, but first, I need to use the bathroom. I’ll meet you out front!” Marinette called, already heading towards the bathroom. She was hoping to get in and out fast enough to not be caught by anyone from her old class.

If only she was so lucky. 

Lila and her posse were climbing down the stairs, talking about what they should do for lunch, when she saw Marinette walk into the bathroom. She smirked, it seemed like no one else saw her. 

Once they reached the ground level she turned to the group, “I’ll meet you in the cantine okay?”

Marinette was washing her hands when the door swung open. She froze when she heard the sickly sweet voice.

“Oh! Hello Marinette, how are you?”

She didn’t spare a glance at the tan girl, “well I was having a good day.”

“Don’t be like that! I just don’t understand why you hate me so much!”

Marinette shot her a deadpan look, “you can cut the act Lila, you’re not fooling either of us.” Marinette dried her hands and made to leave. 

Lila cut her off, “We’re not done yet.”

“What more could you want? Do you want me to admit defeat or something? Fine! You won, you’ve gotten all my old friends to turn against me. You. Won. Now leave me alone,”

She chuckled, a little to sweetly, “Oh Marinette, this was never about winning.” She dropped the fake smile, her face twisting, “this was about putting you in your place. And your ‘place’ isn’t at this school anymore.”

“On the contrary, I think it’s you whose overstayed her welcome.”

Both girls whipped around to see Chloe open a stall door, walking in between the two she flicked her hair in Lila’s face, causing her to sputter.

Marinette simply stared at the blonde in shock.

Lila composed herself and glared, “What are you gonna do? No one here likes nor trusts you, I made sure of that.

Chloe’s eye twitched, the only sign that Lila’s words got to her. “Maybe not, but my daddy has enough pull that I can talk to the people you’ve been lying about knowing. Because what you may not know is that Jagged Stone stays at our hotel multiple times a year, and he is a big fan of Marinette. A few words to him about how you’ve treated Marinette and your lies will start to unravel, or I could call Prince Ali, who will be here in a few weeks for diplomatic reasons. If people find out that everything you’ve said is a lie, I wonder what you’ll be left with?”

The liar scoffed, “If Marinette was truly a friend of Jagged Stone why didn’t she get him to expose me earlier?”

Chloe turned to look at Marinette for a moment, “Because she’s a much better person than I am. She wouldn’t take advantage of her connections. But I have no problems doing so.” 

They stared at each other for a moment before 

Lila relented and turned to leave, just before she did she turned back slightly. “I got all of your so called ‘friends’ to abandon you in less than a month. You may talk big, but I can get rid of both of you before you had a chance to fight back.”

Chloe scoffed, “I’d like to see you try.” She smirked and gave a sarcastic wave.

Once the door closed after Lila, Marinette turned to Chloe. “Thank you for helping me but… why did you?”

Chloe sighed, “you know what they say, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my… acquaintance.’”

“That’s not quite the–”

“I have something I want to say to you”, Chloe interrupted quickly, like if she didn’t say it now she never would. “I have never been… nice to you… and… I’m sorry for that.”

Was this her nice deed for the day?

“Um, whe-where is this coming from?” Marinette decided it would be best to play along.

“I’ve been seeing a therapist for a couple weeks now, and as much as I hate it, she brings up some good points. But I didn’t really understand until I talked to Ladybug last night. So I’m trying to be… nicer. I want to show Ladybug that I’m worthy of being Queen Bee.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, “that I’m not a mistake.”

“Chloe you’re not a mistake, and whoever made you feel like your were is wrong.” Marinette had a feeling that it was Audrey’s treatment of the girl that made her feel that way. She knew from their conversation the night before that she just wanted parents who would love her for her. 

“Chloe, I accept your apology… and I forgive you.”

Chloe looked up at her, close to tears. “Why would you, of all people, forgive me?”

Marinette sighed, “Because even though you did torment me in the past, I still think you can be good. I mean, if Ladybug trusts you enough to give you a miraculous then why wouldn’t I give you the benefit of the doubt?” 

The girls exchanged a smile and Marinette went to leave again. “Hey, Aurore, Brielle, and I are going to a cafe down the street for lunch… would you like to come?” 

Chloe stared at her for a moment before declining, “I don’t think that they would want me around, with how I’ve treated them. And one heart to heart was enough for me today. I’m just gonna go home.”

“Well if you change your mind, don’t hesitate to come!”

Marinette left. No one saw the smile that crept onto Chloe’s face, or the little dance she did before composing herself and leaving the bathroom. Maybe this ‘being nice’ thing isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully and Marinette and Aurore wished Brielle luck with her first meeting before heading home. Marinette flopped onto her chaise, ladybug there for a moment before shooting back up. 

“Kitty section shirts need to be ready by tomorrow!” She rushed to her sewing machine before coming to her senses. Her shoulders curled inward as she thought. Do they even want me to make their shirts now? She decided to call one of them, but every time she got to one on the contacts she hesitated. Maybe text would be better. 

It wasn’t. It allowed her to see some of the messages she’d been avoiding. Rose was too sweet to leave anything nasty, but they were filled with hurt, Juleka’s were filled with betrayal. Ivan’s were the worst though, his were angry, she put her phone down. She realty didn’t want to text Luka, there was a good chance that the others had told him exaggerated stories. 

But he was also the best option to talk to in her opinion.

She sent a quick text. 'Hey, sorry for the short notice but I don’t think I’ll be able to do commissions for Kitty Section anymore. I can finish the shirts for this weekend but that’s it.' 

His reply came quickly, 'Juleka told me, she and Rose say some other girl from your class has experience and will make our stuff from now on.'

Marinette felt a touch of anger reading that, were they not even going to tell her? Before she could think up a reply, her phone dinged again, 'Andre’s on the bridge today, meet me there in 15?'

Marinette smiled, but worry tainted her mind. Is he angry? His texts don’t seem angry, what if Juleka stole his phone and is pretending to be Luka? No that’s ridiculous! She shook herself from her spiraling thoughts and realized she still needed to reply, 'see you soon.'


End file.
